Thanks to a collegiate contest sponsored by AT&T, more than 30 Dartmouth students have 500,000 mock dollars at their beck and call.
Dartmouth's team is competing against 15,000 students and teachers nationwide in an investment contest that "simulates real life exactly," said Jim Hall '94, captain of the College's team.
The competitors have 24-hour telephone access to a central trading unit that allows them to buy and sell stocks on several exchange markets, team member Rob Manly '94 said.
The "AT&T Collegiate Investment Challenge," created by Replica Corporation and sponsored by AT&T, Pontiac and Texas Instruments, began in mid-October, and will run until Dec. 10.
"You invest in yourself and in your future," Hall said. "The only thing you're losing is two or three minutes per day, but the potential gains are immense," he said.
Hall said the program is beneficial because "most of the student body is competitive, fierce and into self-development." He added, "Maybe you could finance your tuition with a little good luck and practice."
Last year, four Dartmouth students competed in the investment challenge. None of them finished in the top ranks.
Manly said he put most of his money on one stock in the New York Stock Exchange and can follow his gains and losses daily in the paper. "I bought into Atari pretty hard," he said.
"I urge the team to start trading wildly so that we can dominate the Ivy League," Hall said. A successful Dartmouth team "should show that this is where the future of business is -- right here, attending Dartmouth College."
